Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Running my own website!

I now own a website! http://yarntodayknittomorrow.com/

It's a blog-style site dedicated to my knitting. I'm still working on it, but for the most part I'll be blogging over there now, I'm also going to change the name of this blog so there won't be any confusion!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

2010 reading challenge completed, bring it on 2011!

I keep a log of all the books I read. Every time I finish one I write it down, that way I can see how many books I average per year. In December of 2009 I looked back and saw that I had read a measly 28 books. I've always wanted to hit between 50-60 books a year and challenged myself to do just that in 2010, starting January 1 I was determined to hit 50 books. I only had to read 4-5 books a month, (which was not hard having still been pursuing my BA in English at the time). I don't know how I managed to read as much as I did with all the knitting I've done, but I somehow managed to hit 50 books without trying very hard.

The 50 Books I read in 2010
The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love by Beth Pattillo
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
Knit Two by Kate Jacobs
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Metamorphosis by Kafka
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford
White Noise by Don DeLillo
Brave New World by Alduous Huxley
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Angels and Insects by A.S. Byatt
Possession by A.S. Byatt
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
The Little Black Book of Stories by A.S. Byatt
Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Betrayal by R.L. Stine
The Secret by R.L. Stine
The Burning by R.L. Stine
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Dead to the Word by Charlaine Harris
Hollywood Knits Styles by Suss Cousins
Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
Things I Learned from Knitting by Stephanie Pearl McPhee
Yarn Harlot by Stephanie Pearl McPhee
From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
Gwenhwyfar by Mercedes Lackey
The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind
Sides Jobs by Jim Butcher
Monster Vol 1 by Naoki Urasawa
Vampire Knits by Genevieve Miller

Not a bad year of reading! So now that I know I can hit 50 books in one year, in 2011 I am challenging myself to read 75 books. Wish me luck!

Monday, January 3, 2011

My brand new workstation.

I spent some time today setting up a work area where I can use my new knitting machine and work on knitting in general. I have the machine set up in the picture, but it comes off the table and is moved to the side neatly so I may also use the space as a desk. All of my knitting supplies, and the majority of my yarn, are next to, under, and on the table. To the far right is my mostly-organized file box of patterns, and to the left I have my humble collection of pattern and stitch books. I haven't had a desk in so long that I'd forgotten how nice it was to have someplace to sit down and work.

Ringing in the new year.

The holiday season is over, with many a sigh of relief. All that's left is to take down the decorations, eat the leftovers, and finish knitting a belated gift or two.

I spent the last week of 2011 away from home, visiting family in South Jersey and then spending New Year with my boyfriend and his family in Connecticut. Had a simple, quiet New Year's Eve, and got a good deal of knitting done while in South Jersey.

It's lovely to finally be home. I managed to unpack yesterday and today I need to do some housework, maybe even move some furniture around.

I picked up a knitting machine yesterday. I precariously balanced it on two TV trays and tried it out, it's interesting, and a bit complicated to set up. I haven't decided how I feel about it yet. I still need to pull a proper table into my room and set it up. There is a perfectly sized table in our backyard that I went out into the twenty-something degree weather to clean up. Only to finish cleaning it and discover it was full of ice. No way can I drag that into the house, so it seems I'll have to wait until it defrosts to bring it inside.

The knitting machine in no way replaces hand knitting, I just want a way to produce quick, simple projects that I can sell online and at conventions.

I posted on Geek Crafts yesterday! I'll be posting every Friday at 4pm and Sunday at noon.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey Knitting!

I just finished knitting this cowl! I'm so excited, and can't sleep...which is why I finished knitting it tonight. It's knit with Knitpick's Felici Self Striping Sock Yarn in Time Traveler (I don't believe the color is available anymore). The colorway is based off the iconic Doctor Who scarf. Made using the Wibbly Wobbly cowl pattern from Ravelry. (Sorry, you'll have to sign into Ravlery to see the pattern, it's all free though!)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Christmas and a feeling of accomplishment

I'm finally done with my Christmas knitting! By done I mean I've finished the gifts for my friends and family that I'll be seeing on Christmas. Everyone else that I'm knitting for I won't see until after the new year. Soo, I have another week to work on those. I'll be posting tons of pictures after Christmas of the stuff I knit and of some WIPs. It feels good to know that I won't be up until 3am Christmas Eve trying to finish that last gift!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Failidays


I can't seem to take a decent picture of my knitting lately, I think something might be wrong with my camera. So here's a picture someone else took of me knitting!

'Tis the holiday season, Christmas is a few days away and I'm still trying to finish knitting gifts. I think I'll start knitting for next year in January.